By Sean Reagan John McCain’s senior policy advisor Doug Holtz-Eakin said recently that when it comes to the environment, McCain likes to weigh the costs and benefits of a given issue rather than submit it to an ideological litmus test. “Look, he always balances what are the environmental implications of these enterprises and what are […]

By Sean Reagan In my ongoing fascination with reading the speeches of John McCain, I noticed this lately reoccurring nugget: The timber industry made off with 260 million dollars in tax breaks. Here at The Back Forty, I’ve pointed out many times that the Farm Bill ain’t perfect. If it was a movie, we’d call […]

By Sean Reagan One of the nice things about having John McCain around is, well, just how long he’s actually been around. Like Bob Dole, John McCain has some serious mileage. And that translates into a record ripe for the scrutinizin’. Take, for example, Big Tobacco. Arizona doesn’t grow tobacco. That means that John McCain […]

By Sean Reagan A big part of the rural vote in any state is the Native Americans. Democrats traditionally win the broadest swath of these votes but McCain, who is a past chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, is not conceding that vote. Politico reports that Obama has been consistently meeting with tribal leaders […]

By Sean Reagan Ari LeVaux recently interviewed Barack Obama on issues relating to food and agriculture. Obama, you’ll recall, voted in favor of the Farm Bill with the altogether reasonable observation that we shouldn’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. McCain, not so much. As John Nichols said, McCain, who is a […]

By Sean Reagan Democrat Betsy Markey holds a 7-point lead in her race to unseat Republican incumbent Marilyn Musgrave in Colorado’s Fourth District. The poll, released by Markey’s campaign last week, puts her up 42%-36% with a 4.9% margin of error. Even given the early stage of the campaign, that’s good news for Democrats looking […]

By Tracy Russo No, this is not a joke. For the amazing low price of $250 you can get your very own personalized 3×6 McCain banner to take along to your, “cabin, beach house rental or hotel balcony,” writes McCain supporter, fundrasier and lobbyist (gee, I though McCain had purged those from his team?), Frank […]

By Sean Reagan Republican Susan Collins leads Tom Allen in the race to retain her Maine Senate seat. But people are starting to take notice of her vote against the Farm Bill. Yesterday, the Bangor News said that the bill – which Sen. Snowe and Reps. Michaud and Allen supported – included a provision that […]

By Sean Reagan Montana Democrats head to the polls on June 3 where Obama enjoys a sizable lead over Clinton. As Eric Kleefeld notes, Obama is not taking the race there for granted. I don’t think Obama is worried about losing to Clinton in Montana. At least I hope that he’s not. I hope that […]